July 22, 2016

The new UK government has disbanded the Department of Energy
and Climate Change (DECC). The new Department of Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy will now be responsible for policies regarding renewable
energies.

Greg Clark has been appointed as new Secretary of State for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. “I am thrilled to have been appointed
to lead this new department charged with delivering a comprehensive industrial
strategy, leading government’s relationship with business, furthering our
world-class science base, delivering affordable, clean energy and tackling
climate change,” he stated. The renewable energy sector especially took note of
the fact that “climate change” is no longer present in the name of the new
department which Clark is to lead now.

Several Questions have been raised due to this omission,
such as “Who will be formally held responsible for reducing the UK’s carbon
emissions by 80% as compared to 1990?” Overall, it is still unclear how much
the new government of the conservative Prime Minister Theresa May will focus on
preventing climate change.

When it comes to the Secretary of State himself, Clark has
apparently been known to block the development of solar parks on the one hand,
but on the other hand he emphasised the importance of energy efficiency and a
low-carbon economy, when he was shadow secretary for energy and climate
change between 2008 and 2010.

It seems the future of the UK’s renewable energy policy is
as uncertain as the reverberations of Brexit itself.